


Verdis' Journal: A Hunter's Story

by ViZet



Category: Star Wars, Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Gen, pursue
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:28:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28286235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ViZet/pseuds/ViZet
Summary: The ongoing collection of stories about Armell Verdis, a bounty hunter within the Old Republic era.





	Verdis' Journal: A Hunter's Story

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: this work and the following ones contain various words in Mando'a.  
> That is the very beginning of Armell's path through the Galaxy on his own. It began, actually, as a background for my TOR character, but expanded into a series of stories, and a collection of the Verdis family adventures. What do they contain?  
> Quoting one of my favourite authors - read and find out.

"...and you know, they had a band of total maniacs on Coruscant! Murdering everyone and displaying it!"  
"Yeah", I said.  
"And they say that WE have lots of crime! How can anyone say so without order in their own capital?"  
"Yeah", I said.  
"And you know, Sith on Dromund Kaas are no better! They hunt for sport, and they hunt people! Their own people!"  
"Yeah", I said without looking at my neighbour.  
The Galaxy is full of strange people. If you're a short chubby businessman (that he is) - why to sit down near a tall grim bounty hunter (that I am) and complain about bloodshed? I say, this man put a bounty on his own logic, and someone had already collected it.  
The businessman continued to chatter; I looked out of cantina window, glanced around the small square.  
Quite a typical sight of Nar Shaddaa. Stone, metal, people: half a dozen of wandering humans, a couple of arguing Twi'leks (green and blue), old Cathar with gray fur and lots of cybernetics, Rodian street merchant with eyepatch and a Zabrak in a wide-trimmed hat with silver-covered blaster rifle. Yeah. Galaxy has lots of strange.  
I don't stand out much. Worn cloak, reserved attitude, belt with blaster - typical for this planet. Bounty hunters aren't rare here too.  
That's the idea. If you can blend with surroundings while waiting, then you'd better do it. Chameleons all over the Galaxy cannot be wrong.  
I glanced over the square once more. Twi'leks shouted at each other, Cathar wrapped himself in thick cloak and sat near an old airspeeder, Zabrak was striding up and down with a bored look. If tad’buir is correct, then any time now…  
My commlink beeped for a second, and I shot a glance at the screen.  
 _Lenedat olar_.  
So target’s here. Good. Time to work. Jergan Friss’ bounty won’t collect itself.  
I rose from my place; the neighbor, startled, gave me a surprise look.  
“Where are you going? I was just to tell about this atrocity at…”  
“Sir”, I said, moving on to exit. “I’m a bounty hunter. I don’t listen about atrocities, I deal with them.”  
He sat back with round eyes. I moved to the street.  
Yes. Just in time.  
An elderly man in expensive suit with golden pattern just appeared at the square. He was accompanied by three men: armour, scars, weapons ready, every movement shouts “Mercs that do their job”.   
Target locked.  
I waited for them to reach the center of the square, then crossed their way and said:  
“Stop right there”.  
The expensive man stopped at once; mercs moved forward, one pushed his client behind his back, the other two stared at me, grapping their blasters. Local roofs were too far away to fear about snipers – and there were none of them. Really.  
Locals froze for a moment; then Rodian dived under a speeder nearby, Twi’leks shut up and hurried away, Zabrak retreated to the wall, clenching his weapon.  
“What d’you want?” said one of the mercs.  
“I’m a bounty hunter”, I said. “I’m for your leader”.  
Their eyes widened. The blasters leaped out of the holsters.  
And then the temple of one merc exploded with bones and blood, he fell to the side, pushing his client away with his weight. Eyes of the other two jerked to the direction of the shot for a fraction of second – and it was enough for me to pull the trigger myself.  
My shot went just above the armour collar: the second merc fell back, having his throat punctured. The third one reacted at once; he bolted to the side, igniting a jetpack, jumping off to cover the distance to the lower roof.  
The old Cathar dropped his blaster to holster and jumped into the speeder.  
“Don’t fall back, Arm’ika!” he growled.  
“Yes, tad’buir”, I answered, already throwing myself beside him.  
The expensive man stared at us, speechless. He clearly waited for us to fetch him, and his world was ruined.  
We weren’t for him, yes. We were for Jergan Friss, his chief bodyguard and his team.  
We rushed over the roofs; we saw how the merc ran up to another airspeeder, kicked his owner out of the driver’s place and threw the car in flight. I was quite sure that he is pushing everything from his commlink now.  
Good.  
“Warm him up!” Khanorr, my mentor and tad’buir, ordered.  
I nodded and raised my blaster. When we came closer, I pressed the trigger: several bolts lashed against speeder’s surface. The merc jerked and glanced around, then pushed the speed controls.  
Again, that’s good.  
Khanorr threw our speeder in a damned spiral, not letting the merc to get away. The wind billowed his cloak, revealing fine steel of visible implants; I didn’t see his face, but I was sure that he’s smiling right now.  
Cathar are predators. Mandalorian Cathar is twice more predator. I’m happy to have such a tad’buir.  
Various cars flashed by, roaring in irritation. The merc flew just against traffic, and sent to Sithspawn all the rules. Well, I can understand him. When you’re pursued by two bounty hunters, traffic rules are the least of your problems.  
Buildings of the Smugglers’ Moon went by both sides, as if we were flying through a canyon. Cars swept over and from the sides like huge birds; from above someone cursed in Huttese so loud that it went through thundering traffic.  
“Here they are”, Khanorr said. I nodded: another airspeeder was approaching, fast and sleek one. I saw four people inside.  
Together with the escaped merc – five. Five against two, quite an advantage.  
Well, bounty hunting teaches to cut enemies advantages well.  
Khanorr threw our speeder into manouevre, just when the merc went over an empty roof. With surgical precision tad’buir brought our cars almost together – and I tossed a grenade just to the passenger seat.  
The merc managed to yell; then explosion drowned his voice, and enflamed car crashed into the roof. One less enemy to worry about, no civilian casualties.  
Hunters aren’t known for pity. But to pursue a contract and kill people, totally unrelated to it… that’s not cruelty. That’s stupidity and osik’la lack of professionalism.  
Khanorr did another manouevre; the other speeder could pursue us, and it did. Yeah, it was expected. We suddenly attacked Friss’s team and killed one of his thugs just before him. Find someone who wouldn’t be enraged by that.  
The speeder flew after us at full speed, blaster shots flashed by, leaving scorched marks on buildings. Both of us lowered our heads, not wishing to risk more than necessary.  
It would be easier in armour. But if Friss and his team saw two armoured Mandos – you can bet on Hutt’s treasury that they wouldn’t pursue us, they would go defensive. The plan here was different.  
I glanced over my shoulder, met eyes with the bald scarred man with fury on his face and heavy blaster in hand. Jergan Friss, finally alive, not a hologram.  
“He’s here, tad’buir”, I said. Khanorr nodded.  
Then he just dropped the speeder to streets below, at such a speed that I almost choked. Khanorr always drove with impossible precision; I think that has something to do with Cathar senses. Cats are famous for their balance, after all.  
Friss barked some orders, his speeder dived after us into crazy manoeuvres. Khanorr threw the vehicle from side to side, not letting enemy to aim well.  
“Tsikado?” tad’buir shouted through engine’s roar.  
“Tsikala!” I yelled back.  
And then we went just under a low bridge, burst into the street and into an old building. Some warehouse, bought by a merchant, but abandoned. Don’t know why, really, either he didn’t share something with gangs, or was successful enough to just leave Nar Shaddaa for good. It didn’t matter.  
And what mattered was the fact that Khanorr stopped the speeder abruptly, and I hit the remote control just when Friss’ team flew in. The metal doors fell with sudden clank, cutting all of us from exit.  
The other speeder stopped, and four men jumped out. They were alike: well-built, in armour, with blasters and vibroblades, scars and ice cruelty in eyes. Well, Friss modelled his team after himself.  
“Jergan Friss”, I said. “Some Coruscant people want to see you again”.  
They paused for a second. Then Friss laughed abruptly.  
“Ah, that is the reason… You ran well, hunters, but nowhere to run. And four blasters are better than one”.  
“Zero blasters equal zero”, Khanorr growled. “Look around you, utreekov”.  
They looked. They stopped smiling at once.  
What will happen if you take a warehouse and fill it with old canisters, full of highly volatile chemicals? Which are really cheap on Nar Shaddaa.  
My answer is: the place, where you cannot shoot at all.  
They reacted well, I give it to them. Blasters went to holsters, vibroblades appeared; we did the same. Friss moved to metal ladder, evidently wishing to look at the floors above, find some exit from our trap. Well, not a bad decision. Three mercs will tie us in combat, he’ll seek for some way out. After all, Friss cannot know what other surprises we have in case of our defeat.  
None, actually. We weren’t going to die today.  
“Arm’ika”, Khanorr ordered, “go after Friss, leave these three to me. And remember what they said about taking him alive”.  
I nodded and rushed to the ladder too. Friss laughed, momentary confusion changed into anger.  
“Let it be so, youngster”, he shouted. “Guys! Kill this old iron-stuffed cat and follow me”.  
The mercs smiled and closed up to Khanorr with blades in hands. One of them strained for a moment – and then struck. He attacked with sudden thrust, pointing his blade directly to Khanorr’s heart, with swift, deadly move.  
Tad’buir killed him.  
I understood that only because I knew what to look at. Khanorr just shifted his position – not much, just turn his torso and move it for a couple of inches. Just enough for the blade to pass by, without harming his flesh.  
And then he opened merc’s throat with a single flick of his wrist and tip of his knife, letting the energy of enemy’s movement drive him onto the weapon.  
The corpse fell on the floor. Everyone froze.  
“Old and iron-stuffed?” Khanorr bared his fangs. “Experienced and augmented. That’s better”.  
Two mercs coped with confusion and leapt at him. Friss ran to the second floor, rumbling with metal steps. I followed.  
At the very top of the stairs he whirled, chopping with vibroblade. I parried it with my blade at the last moment: he was fast and experienced. I was stronger and bigger, but it’s not such a great advantage.  
I swung to one side, trying to slash his legs with my blade. Friss jumped back, to the second floor – and gave me the chance to leave the stairs. Now we were on the same level.  
Friss attacked, I met him with vibroblade ready.  
For a minute we were locked in battle, and I had to go defensive. I was wearing spare armour, so torso and arms were safe – but not hands, legs or head. Friss was fast, and aimed well: I had to parry with blades and armguards, striking sparks from the clash of metal.  
But finally he jumped back again and kicked some old container directly at my face. I caught it with my blade; at this moment Friss ran up the stairs to the third floor. I followed, wishing to curse – but didn’t do it. Because the situation was actually good.  
The third floor was mostly empty. Just space, no windows, large hole in one of the walls; when I appeared, Friss moved to the wall, seeking for good exit.  
“Hey, you, Sithspawn huttslime”, I said. “Hello”.  
Friss turned around, instantly seeing the situation. Upper floor, no explosives here, so everything is blaster-good. And my blaster was in my hand already.  
He reacted at once, and just leaped to the hole in the wall, standing at the very edge.  
“What, do you want to end yourself?” I asked, taking aim.  
Friss smiled.  
“Idiot. You won’t shoot or even stun me – than I’ll fall and die. And I heard what your partner said: you need me alive, otherwise no money, hunter!”  
I shot him in the face.  
Falling from the hole to ground, Friss looked very, very surprised.  
I came up to the hole, looked out and nodded: dead. He heard, yeah. Only someone, who doesn't know Khanorr, can believe that he can do such a slip, and do it in Basic.  
"Di'kut", I said to the corpse below. "They paid us extra for not even thinking of taking you alive".

I went down slowly. There was no sound of fight, so it was finished in one or another way. And if there’s an ambush downstairs, there’s no need to jump into it.  
But I saw what I expected to see. Khanorr was sitting calmly on one of the boxes, cleaning his knife. Two more corpses lied behind him. They were going to take him down. Brilliant idea.  
Two kinds of people underestimate the Cathar. The first think of them as furry cats, forgetting about fierce fights with Mandalorians. The others think them to be savages with no understanding of tactics. Very often such people move into third category.  
Dead.  
“I’ve heard the fall”, tad’buir said, looking over the knife critically. “Job done?”  
I nodded.  
“Then get the bioscanner”, Khanorr ordered. “No need to drag it for long”.  
He didn’t ask whether I’m hurt or not. He had enough experience to see it with a glance, and enough trust for me to not even think of it.  
I didn’t ask him too. Same reasons.

Later we sat together near one of the local cantinas, when the signal about payment transfer came. Khanorr looked at the screen, nodded in satisfaction, and showed it to me.  
I was going to nod – and then stopped. For several years already we have been sharing our payment in half; now it showed that my account got two-thirds of the sum, and Khanorr’s – only a third.  
“That’s some mistake, tad’buir”, I said.  
“No mistake”, Khanorr shook his head. “You’ll need more money now, Arm’ika. We go different paths”.  
I froze. Khanorr smiled with the corner of his mouth.  
“I’m becoming old. I felt it today while fighting these two. A few years ago I would have cut them in pieces within a minute. And yes, cybernetics feel… heavy on me. It’s time for me to retire – as much as a Mando can do this”.  
I didn’t know what to say. Only twice I felt so speechless: when Meneskan burned, and when I asked Khanorr “how in the name of all huttslime did a Cathar become a Mandalorian?” and he answered.  
“Your life is ahead,” Khanorr concluded. “You are ready. Strong, smart, prepared”.  
He looked at me.  
“And, Arm’ika – today’s plan was yours. That’s important”.  
“Mine was the idea, Khan’buir”, I said automatically, finally regaining my speech. “Details were all yours”.  
“You can’t work out details without an idea”, he said reasonably. “But now I am sure: you’re ready, Arm’ika”.  
I tried to find some words – and failed. I was ready, really. Tad’buir taught me well.  
“Anyway, you can’t always be under my…” Khanorr paused. “Haar’chak, these Basic expressions. It has only “under my wing”, and I’m not an osik’la bird”.  
“Under your paw?” I suggested.  
“Fair enough”, Khanorr agreed.  
For a few moments we were silent.  
“The ship is yours”, Khanorr finally said. “ _Scorpion_ is a good vessel, and you know each other already”.  
“And you?”  
“There’s a ship of my friend on Nar Shaddaa. I’ll ask him to give me a lift”.  
“Where?”  
Khanorr grinned.  
“My _runi’la yaim_ ”.  
I was confused just for a moment, and then nodded.  
“Manda’yaim”.  
Yes. Khanorr had his origin – lost Cathar. His birthplace, that was insignificant for him now. And he had the home of his soul – the planet Manda’yaim.  
Mandalore.  
“Visit me someday”, tad’buir said. “Tell about your journeys”.  
I nodded.  
“Well”, Khanorr paused for a moment. “Were I a Sith, I’d say something like “Rise, my apprentice”.  
“And I’d answer: “Yes, oh master”, I grinned.  
“But we’re not chakaaryce Sith”, he laughed, “so let’s just go drink together”.

We said goodbye near the _Scorpion_. I got all the codes for the ship, and we paused for some minutes, just standing nearby. Cathar and human, teacher and pupil, second father and only son.  
Two hunters. Two Mandalorians.  
“Remember the rules”, Khanorr said.  
“Always”, I smiled. “Stay calm…”  
“Watch your ammo…” tad’buir continued.  
“Prepare for everything…”  
“…and know your way”, Khanorr finished and nodded. “They’ll save your body and soul often”.  
I couldn’t agree more.

It was strangely quiet and dark onboard the Scorpion. I even stood for a minute near entrance, getting used to the thought that I’m alone here. Khanorr always wandered the ship, when he wasn’t asleep or at the controls.  
But today tad’buir stayed on Nar Shaddaa. And I was to continue the flight.  
I inhaled deeply, then looked out of an illuminator nearby. Khanorr was there, he just leaned against the hangar’s wall, watching at the ship. As if he was saying: “Come on, Arm’ika, I want to see you fly”.  
 _Yes, tad’buir_ , I answered in my thoughts. _Time for it_.  
I went to the upper desk slowly. Sat in the pilot’s chair, started the system diagnostics, waited for all green on my panels. Then touched the controls slowly, looked at the chair beside automatically. Empty, of course.  
I need to get used to it. I can get used to it. I’ll get used to it.  
I inhaled once more and started the launch sequence.  
The stars await. They always wait for hunters and Mandalorians, and today they’ll welcome one more of them.  
And if they won’t…  
I wonder. Can anyone place a bounty on a star?


End file.
